Premier Fund Managers Ltd Trims Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd cut its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,068 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in KLA were worth $4,477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in KLA by 82.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 2,038 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KLAC. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $830.67.

KLA Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $700.00 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $729.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $703.36. The company has a market cap of $93.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.44, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $609.40 and a 1 year high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. As a group, equities analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. KLA’s payout ratio is 28.60%.

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of process control, process-enabling, and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related electronics industries worldwide. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Process Control; Specialty Semiconductor Process; and PCB and Component Inspection.